


Unorthodox Counseling Methods

by afteriwake



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-15
Updated: 2012-10-15
Packaged: 2017-11-16 08:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/537527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She hated counseling, but Captain Unohana found a way around it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unorthodox Counseling Methods

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was going to be Renji/Hinamori but I lost the original prompt, and I saw **kanjo_girl** had left one for this pairing and the prompt “the helpless team” and it just _flowed_. Set after the Deicide arc.

She didn't trust anyone.

Well, that wasn't true. She trusted Captain Unohana, who was overseeing her continued health. A full organ transplant on the scale hers had been done required someone to look over her. And apparently the captain of the 12th Division had been a little too gleeful at the prospect of research, so Captain Unohana had (forcefully, it had been said) convinced their captain to let her oversee Lieutenant Hinamori's care. It wasn't just the health aspect, though, it was counseling as well.

Counseling she was very resistant to. Again.

It was supposed to be helpful. And the first time, it had been. She had been able to join the fight in the fake Karakura Town. But this wasn't just another betrayal by Aizen. Oh, it was worse. It was so much worse. After all that counseling the first time she had been able to see Aizen for what he was, what he had done. The scales had slipped away, so to speak. She had been set free.

But then he...he _used_ her. And he turned the others against her by making them think she was him. He had fooled them all once again, and she had borne the brunt of it. But that wasn't the worst part. No, the worst part was that every night she went to bed picturing the horrified look on Shiro-chan's face. Hitsugaya's face. He would probably never be Shiro-chan again. Aizen had stripped her of that just as he'd stripped her of her ability to trust.

She relived the thoughts every time she shut her eyes. She could still feel everything, every last little thing they all did to her, thinking they were doing it to Aizen. She could still hear Ichigo screaming. She could still feel herself shouting at them to stop.

She barely slept anymore, not without sedation. She would just run herself to the point of exhaustion, then take one of the pills Captain Unohana gave her to sleep. She never thought of taking more than one, oh no, never that. But when she was exhausted she slept longer, slept more deeply. It only took about four or five hours for the nightmares to come instead of two or three.

But she began to perk up a bit, sometimes. She would see something lovely, something sweet, and use the thought of it to beat the nightmares back. And sometimes it would work, and she's wake up a little more rested than usual. Not often, but sometimes.

So she had been surprised when Captain Unohana told her one day that they would not do counseling, but that she would be spending the time with her 7th Seat, Hanataro Yamada, helping him with his duties. She had been grateful for the break from talking. Captain Unohana meant well, she knew that, but it was just too much, too soon. So she greeted Hanataro and helped him with his duties.

He didn't seem to want to talk about her. He actually seemed nervous around her. And she was unaccustomed to making people nervous. So she brought up small things, neutral things, such as books she had read and things she had seen. He didn't say much, but he did calm down a bit. He stopped dropping as much stuff, at the very least.

The next time she was to have counseling Captain Unohana once again had her spend time with Hanataro. And then the next week. By the time the fourth week rolled around she knew what was going to happen, and, lo and behold, once again she was paired with him. But it was okay, because he'd finally started to talk back, to converse with her. They had a few things in common, and he had recommended a book to her. She couldn't wait to talk to him about it.

The next week Captain Unohana suggested they not do work and instead go for a walk, encouraging them to stay out longer than the hour she usually had her for. So they walked around Seirieiti. She was still getting uneasy stares, but by now Hanataro had opened up and was actually kind of talkative, so she paid more attention to him and less to the stares. It was nice.

The next week she showed up early, hoping to see him for a few minutes just in case Captain Unohana made her go back to speaking to her. She surprised him in the supplies area, and he dropped a roll of bandages that unfurled on it's way out the door. She picked up the other end and began rolling it back up, even as he was telling her they wouldn't be able to use it since it had been on the floor. She asked if she could keep it and he stammered yes. She smiled at him and he blushed.

It had been a long time since that had happened.

They started to talk about themselves more that week. He told her about being bullied by everyone, and how being small and weak made him nervous, and how he disliked his zanpakatou and his shikai. At that point she just had to see it, so they went deep into the woods and he showed her, since it had been charged up. When they returned Unohana had a stern look on her face and she was terrified she had blown her chance at spending time with him the next week, but when she said this her expression softened and she said not to show off their shikais again.

The next week she talked. She opened up about Aizen, just a little. She talked about her nightmares, and about how she had put the roll of bandage where she could see it as she slept so that when she had a nightmare she could see it and think of something good. And she talked a little about Hitsugaya, slipping into calling him Shiro-chan a few times when she talked about their childhood.

And the weeks kept going and going. She had figured out that after that first week of talking about herself he had told Captain Unohana what she had said, but it didn't bother her. She knew in her head that her time spent with Hanataro during her counseling sessions was a way to get her to open up, but that was okay. She had made a great friend, and she had started to spend time with him outside of their weekly appointments.

And then one week he said he couldn't spend time with her anymore, and she was heartbroken. She went to Unohana, dragging him with her to plead her case. And then Unohana said she no longer needed to see him during her counseling appointments, but she was free to see him when neither of them were working. Apparently he'd thought the same thing because when she gave him a huge smile he gave one back, and Unohana relented and said they could have one more afternoon together before they stopped.

They walked to this hill she had gone to when she wanted space and time alone, one she had taken him to before, and they sat and talked. They talked until it got dark, watching the sun dip beyond the horizon. And then, cautiously, carefully, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. In the last of the sun's rays she could see him blushing, and she giggled slightly and reached over for his hand. She liked him, and when he held her hand she knew he liked her, and that was really all there was to it.


End file.
